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This is a great step-by-step guide to changing domains using a phase-in approach. To be frank, the few times we have had to do this, we did it in one fell swoop, pointing the old domain to the new domain, personally contacting the top linking webmasters and going on an aggressive link-building campaign. Somehow, the phased-in approach sounds like less work.
I actually sent this to all my clients, so they understand why I am trying to get them to upgrade their websites, not just their links or hidden code (like meta tags and bold tags).
OK. I'll try it.
Yes, like you it seems that I am the only person not there...except you, of course. Which makes me wonder how any other SEOs can serve their clients. Or do they? Wasn't I the only one (and you, of course) not at the last conference a couple weeks ago? Geesh. Two years ago I squeezed out enough time to attend SES Chicago (which was a great conference, PLUS I got to eat at the Mambo Cafe!).
But I have not found the time to go to a conference since. Occasionally I find the time to go to the bank or the bathroom, but a whole conference? Maybe next year.
By the way. I like #3. I wonder how to be even more impressive with YouTube (and tweet the fake video, of course).
Silly me, Li. I popped into your website and I see that you ARE at Pubcon. Or you are following David's tips really, really, really well!
I suspect that Twitter played two roles this time and could for the furue:
1. Keeping the faithful up-to-date with discussion tiopics. If that did nothing else, it kept them motivated.
2. People placed a lot of peer-pressure for others to vote, and in this medium that helps the Candidate with the younger suppert base.
I suspect that social media did very little to change people's minds, but there probably are ways to do that, too.
Story: SEO for Big Brands
SEO and branding often seem to be at loggerheads, just as content for visitors and for spiders sometimes seems to be. It's true that eCommerce does not have to worry about branding, but major companies do. Much of what Jill writes can also apply to professionals, such as consultants, coaches, speakers, attorneys, etc., who also need to promote their brand (reputation and name) as much as "divorce attorney Denver" or some such search phrase.
I saw a similar discussion on Digg recently and how site considered authority can often get onto the home page with fewer than 100 diggs, whereas obscure websites sometimes miss even with 300+ Authority is a useful part of the algo in any search, but it does need to be properly balanced. Finding that right balance is tricky business.
Story: A World Without Google
This is a fascinating topic. I am almost ready t launch a website that will not depend on SEO (ironic, considering SEO is what I know best!). I suspect that eventually the site wil do well in the search engines, but so far I have not even turned my attention to title tags, which is way down on my list of priorities.
Hi iBrian.
Gee, around this place the clients would pay through the...never mind, let's not go there!
Indeed. The analogy works well. And you find people on low budgets like to learn to do SEO, just as people with low incomes are best taught to fish...whereas companies hire SEO talent, just as those of us with first-world incomes buy our fish already cut and breaded.
This is a great article. It sums up everything I know about social bookmarking.
Yep. I know what you mean. I have two blogs going right now, and we are planning a third, so we'll have two for the business and one for my hobby-business...and just a few minutes ago I was steaming over a warning that masqueraded as science with no blog appropriate for venting on! I might need to start another blog. But I have clients to serve, so the venting blog might have to wait for retirement.
Come visit a couple of my blogs, leave a comment or two and then you'll be even more all over the place. :-)
I agree. Generally a long domain name is better hyphenated, especially if keywords are in it. But if you plan to do a lot or offline publicity (print advertising or brochures, radio shows or even telephone conversations, best to get a short domain name that points to the longer one.
Whatever it is "worth", if it is a "personal" it is a violation of privacy. If it is a "corporate" acount, then a slae is legit...as long as the rest of the company is sold with it.
Story: SEO Deception
Anyone can play hockey with just a few simple steps. If your goal is to play hockey, great. If your goal is to become an NHL scoring leader, be prepared to sweat, sweat, sweat...oh yeah, and start adding up the cost of trainers and equipment and ice time to practice...
Anyone can do SEO with just a few simple steps. If your goal is to do SEO, great. If your goal is to rank up high, above your competition, be prepared to sweat, sweat, sweat...oh yeah, and start adding up the cost of tools, and link-building, and writers...
It is a great post, and I commented on it. Interesting though, how her blog uses the nofollow attribute in comments. (Just out of curiosity, I checked after leaving the comment.)
SEO is, operationally, a sport. We are competing for a limited number of spots, and may the best ciombination of various facotrs win. There are not apples or oranges to compare. We bring value when we cross-pollintae our knowledge (each person's knowledge is different) with our strategic thinking (we make that up to a large extent on the spot). Standards that constrain a good SEO consultant from finding a new way to score more goals will only screw our clients. Bad idea.
Indeed, this is the problem when talking about any public relations or media relations campaign with sales-oriented marketing folks.
Hmmm. Standards? There are of course business ethics issues related to scams, which unfortunately are prevalent in the SEO "industry". But other than that, how can one create standards?
SEO is not a science, where the same actions deliver the same results each time. In fact, SEO is like a sport. There is only one top site for each search phrase and only ten sites in the "playoffs", the top 10, for any search term. I deliver great results for my clients, but there are often inexplicable things that happen. Just today I blogged about a client whose website is bouncing between #13 and #2 for its main search term. I have another client whose website is rising everywhere in the world at Google.com for its main search term...everywhere except in the USA. These are inexplicable, and standards would not change anything, because SEO practitioners are not in control of the ultimate results.
And although you could theoretically place standards on methods, that would be foolish, since innovation is key in a competitive environment. Standards work in scientific fields, such as manufacturing or medicine, where inputs and results are measurable, where their relationships can be calculated, where the process can be repeated as frequently as there is a return on investment.
Now, to the statement about the rest of the world being help to standards, this is of course rubbish. Hockey players are not held to standards, not even standards of assault, which they routinely do to each other live on television with total impunity. Artists produce the most ghastly creations and then have the nerve to place them in front of the most important public buildings that innocent passers by are forced to view. Politicians are free to say whatever they wish despite the obvious fact that it is all rubbish (except when I agree with them, of course!)
SEO is a form of PR. It is about delivering one's message in a crowded marketplace. It is pure competition and it succeeds by being better -- more creative -- than competitors. It calls for creativity. It calls for thinking outside the box. It does not call for "standards".
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Story: Changing Domains - How not to screw it up!